Former Gov. James E. McGreevey abruptly quit his job at a
private law firm last night after questions were raised about
the ethical propriety of his work for a developer that had
won a $1.3 billion redevelopment project from his administration.
McGreevey issued a statement last night that said his work
for Weiner Lesniak, the law firm of state Sen. Raymond Lesniak,
had clearly "created distractions" and that his
resignation was effective immediately. He joined the firm
last year after resigning as governor in a gay sex scandal.
"In what has been a very difficult period in my life,
Ray has been an exceptional friend," McGreevey's statement
said. "This represents a sound decision to enable me
to pursue professional interests focusing on public policy
challenges."
McGreevey's resignation came after critics questioned his
ethics for representing the Mills Corp. of Virginia in relation
to its Xanadu project at the Meadowlands.
While he was governor in 2003, McGreevey's administration
selected the Mills Corp. over five other competitors to remake
the Meadowlands sports complex. McGreevey signed the lease
sealing the deal last October, after he had announced his
resignation and just weeks before he left office.
One day after the Mills Corp. acknowledged McGreevey was representing
the company in relation to the project, acting Gov. Richard
Codey yesterday moved to tighten ethics rules and restrict
what future governors can do once they leave office.
The New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law already prohibits
other former executive branch employees from representing
anyone besides the state in matters in which they were "substantially
and directly" involved. But McGreevey had signed an executive
order in 2003 making it clear that governors are not subject
to such restrictions after they leave office.
Kelley Heck, Codey's spokeswoman, said the acting governor
intended to close that "loophole."
"He asked counsel's office today to look into different
statutes and ethics guidelines and ways we might be able to
address this. It is part of his broader good government reform
agenda," Heck said.
In response, McGreevey's transition office at 5:30 p.m. yesterday
faxed out a one-sentence statement from him saying he would
remove himself "from the Xanadu project to ensure compliance
with both the letter and spirit of acting Governor Codey's
pending action."
Lesniak, a Democrat from Union County and one of McGreevey's
political mentors, said the former governor would "recuse
himself from any matter involving the Mills Corporation so
that it's not subject to misinterpretation."
But less than three hours later, McGreevey and Lesniak issued
two additional statements announcing McGreevey's departure.
"Governor McGreevey's work with Weiner Lesniak was at
no times in conflict with state ethics laws," Lesniak's
statement said. But, he said, McGreevey's vow to voluntarily
abide by Codey's pending restrictions made it "impossible"
for him to remain at the firm.
"In reality, since a governor touches every aspect of
public life in New Jersey, it is impossible, as a practical
matter, for a governor to practice law at our firm,"
Lesniak said.
McGreevey, Lesniak said, is "one of the most gifted individuals
I have met in 30 years of public life" and "he will
always be my friend."
McGreevey's action came after environmentalists, who are suing
to stop the Xanadu project amid concerns about traffic congestion
and pollution, accused him of a conflict of interest.
It also came amid new questions about whether his work for
Mills Corp. violated the state judiciary's rules of professional
conduct for attorneys. The rules dictate that any lawyer who
formerly served as a government employee or public officer
"shall not represent a private client in connection with
a matter in which the lawyer participated personally and substantially"
or "had substantial responsibility" over.
Penalties range from admonishment to disbarment.
David Dugan, an attorney who has published a manual on legal
ethics for the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education,
said McGreevey's actions may have violated the code if the
state remains involved in the specific work he was doing for
the Mills Corp.
For the past several weeks, McGreevey had been representing
the Mills Corp., negotiating the terms of a workforce development
program the developer is required to implement under its deal
with the state, said Michael Turner, a spokesman for the company.
The program is being designed to train workers for the types
of jobs Xanadu is expected to create. The former governor
was also helping to establish a YMCA on the site and had met
with state officials.
Mills Corp. hired Weiner Lesniak in 2003 to handle the two
initiatives and McGreevey had begun work on them a few weeks
ago, said Turner, who has called environmentalists' suggestions
that McGreevey's assignment with Mills was some sort of payback
"utterly ridiculous."
"We regret his decision (to stop representing the company)
because, as I said before, he's been doing real work,"
Turner said. "But we accept his decision."
Earlier yesterday, Lesniak said McGreevey was assigned to
handle the two community projects for the Mills Corp. because
of his expertise in job training programs, something he'd
championed as governor.
"Obviously, he made a very innocent attempt to do something
good on behalf of the community in trying to get this workforce
development job training going," Lesniak said.
Lesniak said his firm has also represented the Mills Corp.
in zoning and tax issues before East Rutherford municipal
agencies, but that McGreevey had not been involved in those
matters.
The senator also confirmed that he and McGreevey met with
Jersey City officials over lunch at the Light Horse Tavern
in Jersey City about two weeks ago to discuss possible affordable
housing and market rate housing projects in which the firm
has an interest. He declined to identify the clients McGreevey
was lobbying on behalf of, saying it was a matter of attorney-client
privilege.
"The guy is allowed to practice law," Lesniak said.
"Ex-governors are not banished to exile. That wouldn't
be fair."
